Winners of the Kent bursary for the ‘India Immersion Programme’ 2018

(Photo: Kent students at IIP 2017)

At Kent we believe attending a summer school abroad is a great way to experience another culture, gain a global perspective, enhance your studies and make friends from around the world.

Since 2017, International Partnerships and the Dean for Internationalisation have offered the opportunity for 3 Kent students to be awarded a bursary to participate in the India Immersion Program (IIP) offered by one of our partner instutions Amity University. Further to the application shortlisting and interviews, we are delighted to announce that the 2018 bursary winners are:

• Taylor Borowetz | International Development (School of Politics and International Relations)
• Deanna Rose Scutt | Creative Prose Writing (School of English)
• Naomi Wairimu Ng’ang’a | Applied Actuarial Science (School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science)

Selected on merit from over 40 applications, this year’s awardees are all Master’s level students, and it was fantastic to discover that the three finalists would be representing 3 different campuses (Brussels, Paris, and Canterbury – in order of listing above).

IIP 2018  begins on 27^th August and ends 7^th September 2018 and awardees will be joined by students from Brunel University and Solent University UK. The programme includes academic lectures and sessions on Indian heritage and culture, traditions and traditional wisdom, Indian spiritualism, the Indian nation and its people, religion, technology and development to name a few. It also includes a range of cultural visits and cultural exposure programs that include time spent with their student counterparts at Amity University. Programme attendees are also able to take part in industrial visits based on the academic backgrounds represented in the group, as well as having modules on Social Enterprise and sessions on Yoga and Meditation

Kent Religious Studies student, Sophie Nash, was one of the three bursary winners last year, and said of her experience “It has been my dream to travel to India since I was young. I’ve never managed to fulfil this dream due to various reasons, such as trying to fit in the trip alongside my studies and having to fund as well as organise a trip. The International Partnerships department here at Kent University made my dreams come true, and I had the most incredible time. India was everything and so much more than I thought it would be. Amity University were simply outstanding at making us feel welcome and looking after our welfare. I was gifted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study Indian culture, religion, commerce and economy under the guidance of some of India’s leading academics. I saw a selection of the ‘wonders of the world’, and managed to fully immerse myself in the truly fascinating and unique, Indian culture. I have learnt things which I simply would never have learnt from reading or being in the classroom. This has further fueled my ambitions to travel back to India and see what else that beautiful country has to offer”. 

We once again congratulate Deanna, Taylor and Naomi on their bursary award and look forward to following their experiences as each will be hosting a blog/vlog to document their journey and participation in the programme. Their channels will be available to view online at www.kent.ac.uk/goabroad/experience.html